Rafting and sailing on the Vistula in the years 1674-1785 in the light of the bridge fees in Kazimierz near Cracow

Abstract

The article discusses the Vistula rafting in the years 1674-1785 on the basis of the surviving registers of bridge fees in Kazimierz near Cracow. The influence of the Northern War, the plague epidemic and the first partition of Poland on the development of naval trade is presented. The successful development of navigation from the 1720s to the early 1780s was demonstrated. It was proved that the first partition of the Polish Commonwealth inhibited the development of shipping only in the short term, but permanently changed the participation of individual communities in rafting. Attention was paid to the characteristics of rafting, its seasonality, the structure of ships and goods, as well as the group of participants.